Saturday, February 18^th 2012, 1-4pm, Greenport Public Conservation Area in Hudson
Winter Botany Workshop, Part 2 (co-sponsored by the Columbia Land Conservancy)
Conrad and Claudia Vispo will help you learn to identify the most common woody plant species that can be observed at Greenport in the winter. The workshop is free, but space is limited, so please register with fep@hawthornevalleyfarm.org or (518) 672-7994.

Chara filling the water of a marsh in Monroe County. Photo Kim Smith.

Dr. Karol has been working with Characeae for several years now. He uses the two volume 1964 monograph of Chara by Wood and Imahori for identifications. Dr. Karol states that this is an excellent monograph but the broad species concepts and numerous subspecific taxa make it difficult to work with. Given that this is the most recent comprehensive work on Characeae, he has a long-term goal of revising the monograph and updating the keys. If you would like to help him with his work, he needs specimens! If you come across this unique algae in the field, collect a specimen (with the permission of the landowner) and send it to him at the following address:

Kenneth G. Karol, Ph.D.
Assistant Curator
The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Program for Molecular Systematics
2900 Southern Boulevard
The New York Botanical Garden
Bronx, NY 10458-5126 USA

Phone: 718-817-8615
email: kkarol@nybg.org

“What tree is that?” is a dichotomous key (asking a series of questions to narrow down the choice) as seen below.  There is a separate glossary with some illustrations as well as illustrations that accompany the key choices.

After the species is keyed down to the final choice the app shows a drawing of the branches with leaves and fruits plus some natural history information. See below for white ash. You can see the full list of trees included in case you think your species may not be in the key. The My Trees tab allows you to choose to post the location of your tree which helps in their creation of a crowd-sourced tree database.

TreeID is a random access key that allows you to use any of the 31 plant characters available about the tree.  Below is a what their key looks like. Each character has an illustrated glossary (you click on the question mark) that you can use to see what the character choices look like, a nice feature.

When a tree is identified it shows an infomation-rich page about the tree that includes a range map and photos of the leaf (many with fall color) bark and flowers and/or fruit. It also shows the silhouette of the tree architecture which is handy.

I have not tried these apps in the field to any extent and field testing them will be the key to their usefulness.  They look promising and I would recommend getting both of them to use since they approach identification in different ways.  If you happen to use them, leave a comment in our comments section about your experience. We look forward to more of these apps, especially of groups like ferns, fern allies, and orchids that are well defined and popular with many people. Dick Mitchell produced a fern key for computers many years ago.  Something like that is ripe for turning into an app. For more information on other Apple plant ID apps CLICK HERE for an earlier post – Steve Young

They are  offering a $5 discount to NYFA blog readers for upcoming performances of BOTANICA from January 28 thru February 25, 2012 at 3LD Art & Technology Center in Lower Manhattan (http://3ldnyc.org/).

BOTANICA is a creepy futuristic black comedy that examines our complicated and interdependent relationship to plant life. Sealed in a human terrarium, two unorthodox botanists and a caretaker unleash a flood of unusual findings and overturn the constraints of science and social norms. The discount offer is valid for tickets purchased before 1/27/12.

Tickets can be purchased HERE. To get the $5 discount, tickets must be purchased before 1/27/12 with the discount code “Green.”

The University of Florida, Department of Botany and The Kampong of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, in collaboration with Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, will offer an intensive, in-residence course/workshop on the systematics of tropical plants, in Coconut Grove, Florida, from June 25 – July 13, 2012.

Instructor:  Dr. Walter S. Judd (Course Director, Department of Biology, 220 Bartram Hall, PO Box 118525, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-8525; e-mail: wjudd@botany.ufl.edu; phone: 352-273-1983; fax: 352-392-3704).

The Course: Tropical Botany is an intensive course of study in the biology and systematics of tropical plants.  Subject matter will be largely based on the extensive holdings of tropical vascular plants at Fairchild Tropical Garden, The Kampong of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, and the Montgomery Botanical Center   These gardens have the largest living collections of tropical plants in the United States.  Additionally, field trips will be made to the Florida Everglades, the Florida Keys, and adjacent natural areas.  The natural vegetation of South Florida, which includes littoral and dry land habitats, mixed tropical hardwood hammocks, pinelands, and mangrove communities, will introduce students to the diversity of tropical vegetation.  The object of the course is to provide advanced students and/or professionals with a detailed coverage of the systematics, phylogeny, diversity of structure, and economic botany of tropical vascular plants.  Questions concerning the course should be addressed to Dr. Judd.

Credit-hours:  Tropical Botany is taught as a workshop sponsored by The Kampong of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, with the collaboration of Fairchild Tropical Garden.  If academic credit is desired students may enroll in either BOT 6935 (graduate) or BOT 4935 (advanced undergraduates) and receive 2 (or more) semester credit-hours.  These courses are offered by the Department of Biology, University of Florida, and they can be taken by non-U.F. as well as by U.F. students.  Students may also arrange for academic credit from their home institutions.

Enrollment:  Limited to 12 participants, with preference given to upper-level students or professional biologists/teachers.

Application: Individuals should apply by April 16^th, 2012 (to Dr. Judd, see address above).  Applications should include the following: a letter stating reasons for taking the course, a curriculum vita, and a letter of recommendation (sent separately).  Applicants will be notified of acceptance by May 7^th, 2012.

Accommodation:  Students will be housed at The Kampong (Tyson dormitory in the Scarborough House), but, if desired, housing is also available at a hotel near Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.  Facilities at The Kampong include 2 dorm-style rooms with bunk beds, shared kitchenette for self-catering, laundry facility and wifi access. Dorm fees are $25 per day payable directly to The Kampong.

Fees/tuition: A course fee of $1550 is required to cover course/workshop costs.  In addition, if U.F. academic credit is desired, tuition costs are $498.09/ credit (in-state, graduate), $188.55/ credit (in state, undergraduate), $1222.81/ credit (out-of-state, graduate), or $931.12 /credit (out-of-state, undergraduate).

Dr. Walter Judd

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 33,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 12 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

CLICK HERE to access the blog.